


Not Like Everyone Else

by ImaKaraTabiHe



Series: What is "Normal"? [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Allen Needs a Hug, Mental Health Issues, Natural Remedies, OCD - Obessive-Compulsive Disorder, Poison Ivy - Freeform, Pre-Relationship, Pre-lightning, Secrets, future Barry Allen/Leonard Snart - Freeform, ice cream makes everything better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-21 06:13:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11938017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaKaraTabiHe/pseuds/ImaKaraTabiHe
Summary: His thing isn't his friend.  Neither is poison ivy, it seems.  Barry hates everything.





	Not Like Everyone Else

Barry wanted to just.. hide away. It felt like everything was falling down on top of him and there was no way to escape. It shouldn't be this hard, but… he wasn't like everyone else. That much had become obvious to him ever since he'd first realized _his thing._

It wasn't something he could explain to other people, not without them realizing how much of a freak he was. So he kept it hidden, locked tightly under the guise of normalcy.

Barry looked at the windows from his bed – arms, legs and feet snuggly wrapped up in clean clothes. He officially hated everything. His hands tightened on his pj bottoms, resisting that  _urge._

_Why couldn't it just end?_

This problem couldn't be solved by rubbing alcohol or hot water and soap, and Barry can't help but be utterly miserable. 'Maybe I should just shove it in hot water… Surely scalding it would make it better. Wouldn't it?'

A pound on his door startled him, making him jump. “Barry?” It was Iris. “I know you're in there. The doctor said you have to take your medicine in order to get better.”

Barry scowled at the door as if that would make her go away, but he knew better. Iris was a bloodhound when she latched onto something, and there was no way that Barry was going to be able to escape her. “I don't want to,” he petulantly replied. He sounded childish, but 16 still counted as a child to the law, so he was going to just ride that train for now.

“Barry, you're not a baby,” Iris stated through the door. “The medicine won't hurt you.”

'No, it'll just get all over everything,' Barry thought. “No,” he replied, determined.

“Barry,” Iris warned.

Even as his foot began to itch and his ear burned with want to be itched, Barry refused. He didn't need those synthetically produced creams that felt weird on his skin and got on absolutely _everything_ he brushed up against. It was just poison ivy. He could handle it.

Barry gritted his teeth as his fingers twitched, longing to relieve him of that itch that just wouldn't die. He couldn't itch the spots. If he did, he risked spreading it to other places, and Barry _refused_ to contaminate himself further. Maybe it'd just.. go away.

He knew better though. Leaving it alone wouldn't make it go away. It wasn't realistic.

He heard Iris sigh from outside the door, apparently realizing that Barry wasn't about to get up and unlock it. He might later to throw his things in the wash and add a bit of bleach to kill the oils, but not with her waiting to prey on him.

“Okay, Barry,” she spoke, gently. “How about we find something else that might work? We don't have to use the cream the doctor gave us. I'm sure there are some natural remedies we could try.”

Barry perked up. Natural remedies were something he didn't mind as much. They wouldn't contaminate his clothing, because they were _natural._ And Iris had suggested he could be part of deciding what could work best.

Oh, who was he kidding. He was game for it.

Getting up, he walked over and opened the door, trying not to focus on the way his clothes _scratched_ at his skin, making him feel oh so much better. “Okay,” Barry said, looking at her miserably.

Iris gave him a soft smile. “How about we use dad's computer and go from there?”

Barry nodded, “That sounds good.”

Together, Barry and Iris took over Joe's computer, kicking him out of the room. They went through several websites, looking at what worked best and what they could do. It seemed like tea tree oil, lavender oil, peppermint oil and salt would be a good combination, but they didn't have the peppermint oil… Baking soda was also another thing they could try.

Jewelweed was a plant that they found to be highly recommended. Unfortunately, they couldn't quite figure out where to find it in their area. The homeopathy pellets weren't in stock at a local store, so that had been a dead end.

Barry finally decided with the baking soda for the spot behind his ear. They mixed the baking soda with a little bit of water to make a paste and lathered it on his ear. He tried not to wince when it touched, because it _burned._ Gosh, it felt so much better though.

Iris got out her tea tree and lavender oil and mixed the two together and had Barry rub that on his foot. The itching eased up, and Barry felt much better.

The two remedies would have to be re-applied later, but at least he wasn't worried about them burying into his clothes and causing him problems. He could handle what was natural.

Barry refused to leave the house that day but made Joe promise to give some food to the neighborhood stray that had started this whole mess. How was he supposed to know the cat at wandered through some poison ivy prior to Barry petting it? Anyway, it wasn't the cat's fault.

Later that evening, Barry sat on the couch with Iris watching an old film that really wasn't all that action packed, but had a soothing vibe to them. “How come you didn't want to use the medicine the doctor prescribed?” Iris questioned suddenly.

Barry swallowed, keeping his eyes on the screen. “Because… I'm not like everyone else.”

He knew without looking that Iris was giving him a confused look. She wanted to know what he meant. It was too hard for him to tell her why, to tell her about his thing, so he fibbed. “I'd rather stick to what's natural than what's synthetically made in a lab.”

“Oh,” Iris said softly. “I understand.”

She didn't, but he let her think she did. After a moment of silence, she piped up. “Want some ice cream?”

Barry turned to her with a grin. “Always!”

A few days later, his poison ivy was gone, and he was never going to eat another spoonful of ice cream again. (Okay, that's a lie. A week later, he was back into the ice cream tubs. Oh, well. All's well that ends well.)

Or at least, it would. If only Barry didn't have _his thing._

  


**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for this random piece. Just something that occurred to me. OCD can be rather dehabilitating.


End file.
